# Self-consistent worlds enable you to draw off of the edge of the map Self-consistent worlds provide a framework to build on. Self-consistent worlds have rules. Rules allow you to apply *logic* to extend the world beyond the parts that you can explicitly see. This logic enable your mind to “play” around with the world. ([[Focused play enables serendipity]]) There is a profoundly nerdy habit of playing around with the logic of imaginary worlds. Memorizing, debating, and expanding on made-up details of imaginary worlds. Memorizing Klingon, explaining why S-foils actually do need to be locked in attack position. There’s something profound in the difference between worlds that can only support wikis and worlds that can support fan-fiction. [[Good science fiction is self-consistent]] and therefore fan-fictionable: it give you a framework with many constraints that support international logic. The real world is the ultimate fan-fictionable world. The activities that are nerdy diversions in imaginary worlds are called math, theoretical physics, and philosophy in the real world. Creating new knowledge is just drawing off the edge of the map in the real world. In the real world we start with the assumption that everything is consistent. According to Kuhn, anomaly discover is the main engine driving knowledge forward. Popper points out a key difference between sci-fi and reality: while [[Good science fiction is self-consistent]] it is not falsifiable. The real world is self-consistent *and* falsifiable. ### Related * [[New mental models should suggest new actions]] * [[Feedback loops and play are important for breakthroughs]] * [[Intelligence is just our perception of something having a perfect mental model of the world]] * [[Treating Science Fiction as case studies from a future history]] <!-- #evergreen --> [Web URL for this note](http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Self-consistent+worlds+enable+you+to+draw+off+of+the+edge+of+the+map) [Comment on this note](http://via.hypothes.is/http://notes.benjaminreinhardt.com/Self-consistent+worlds+enable+you+to+draw+off+of+the+edge+of+the+map)